UPDATE: Former Fire Official Dead In Apparent Suicide

KIRKWOOD, Mo. (KMOX) – A man recently dismissed from a St. Louis-area fire protection district has been found dead of what officials are calling an apparent self-inflicted injury.

Fred Goodson’s body was found in a wooded area near his home on Thursday.

Kirkwood police have not offered more specifics about his death.

Goodson was 61.

He was one of four officials with the Monarch Fire Protection District who were dismissed two weeks ago.

Board president Kim Evans said the four were fired for creating a work atmosphere that tolerated discrimination.

Two female district employees were each awarded $200,000 after claiming they were subjected to a hostile work environment.

OUR EARLIER STORY:

Residents of Chesterfield are in shock over the sudden death of Fred Goodson, the recently fired Battalion Chief of the Monarch Fire Protection District and the death of retired Battalion Chief Ken Murphy.

Because of the deaths the Monarch Fire District Board meeting was postponed out of respect for the men’s families. “We feel as though we’re a family here and losing two of our family members , we didn’t think it appropriate to go on with the meeting” Monarch Fire Marshall Robert Herin told KMOX.

Rick Gans a spokesman for Monarch Concerned Taxpayers thinks the meeting was not cancelled out of respect at all. He claims the board simply didn’t want confrontation with his group who planned to storm the meeting because of the firing of Battalion Chief Fred Goodson.

“Our anger is directed toward the board members who did this and those who gave them the instructions to do it, and that would be the firefighters union” said Gans.

His group claims the Monarch board, although elected by taxpayers, always sides with the union and it’s demands. The board meeting will be held on Saturday morning instead and Gans says then there will be confrontation.

One Comment

Fred Goodson was fired because he didn’t play ball with the firefighters’ Union, not because of any lost court case. Steve Swyers and Kim Evans, the Union controlled board members who voted to fire him, have Goodson’s blood on their hands.

God almighty…you’re as bad as the board members. Have some respect, some measure of humanity. END your political bickering over nonsense…a family will have an empty chair at their table and all you care about is assigning blame. There’s NO winners here.

truth? are you heartless? what you percieve as truth has nothing to do with the appropriateness of comments made by MCT at this time of sorrow and mourning for Chief Goodson by those who worked with him and loved him. Nor does it excuse the outrageous attempt by your group to take a horrible incident like this to further your agendas. Good grief!!